


The Holders of New

by LadyRulamia



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU, F/M, Holder AU, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-14 09:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17506097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyRulamia/pseuds/LadyRulamia
Summary: My name is Marinette. I've spent my entire life in the walls of one of the temples dedicated to the seven miraculous. It is my duty to learn how to become Ladybug, but can I learn how to interact with the six other people on my team and not crumble under the pressure?





	1. Nervous

The seven holders of the magical jewelry, known as the miraculous, are chosen at birth. Every generation, a new set is chosen from the seven continents, but due to no one living in Antarctica, one was chosen by all the previous holders. The Peacock from South America, the Fox from Australia, the Turtle from Africa, the Butterfly from Asia, the Bee from North America, the Black Cat from Europe, and finally the Ladybug, who is chosen specially from all the previous holders. Then from the ages of 3 to 21, the children of the miraculous train to become the new holders. When the current holders retire, there is a big ceremony to pass on the miraculous to the children. 

My name is Marinette. I was chosen to become the holder of the ladybug miraculous. As such, I have the duty of being the leader of the team. I’m not quite sure if I can do it or not, but I will try my hardest. My 21st birthday is tomorrow, so is the big ceremony, though it’s a bit different for me. 

Ladybugs are meant to be the youngest of the chosen so that everyone else already is active and learning under the current leader. I haven’t met anyone on my team yet. We are separated throughout our training years in order to not get distracted by each other. A long time ago when they would train the children together, relationships formed and caused two of the holders to be out of commission right after receiving their miraculous due to a pregnancy. The guardians, who are in charge of training us, decided to set up temples for each future holder to get the best out of the training years. 

One of the many traditions of the miraculous is to have our true identities hidden from the citizens of the world. I have no idea why that is necessary, since I don’t have a life outside of the temple. I’m from China, and female babies weren’t always wanted. I’ve lived my whole life in the temple. When it was time to choose the new ladybug, Nina, the current Ladybug, chose me since she was already taking care of me. The other holders decided that I was suitable to be Ladybug because I had no family to argue against me being a holder. They apparently had issues with the Black Cat’s family. 

The current team seems interesting. I’ve read all the news articles about the stuff they’ve been doing. I’m not supposed to be reading about them. My Master, Fu, says it isn’t a good idea to get attached to my partners until I meet them. I get why, but it sucks. I just want a friend my age. My whole life I’ve been surrounded by much older people than myself. 

So, at my ceremony is where everyone will introduce themselves to me. Nina has been telling me good things about them, but she’s a sweet old lady who sees the best in people, so who knows if they are as amazing as she says. 

The clock on my bedside table is yelling at me to go to sleep. The big day where I finally become ladybug is tomorrow, but even with 18 years of training, I don’t think I’ll be ready. Master Fu says we won’t have to do more than be the face of the peaceful time we are in. The world has been in a state of calm for almost 30 years due to how effective Nina’s group of miraculous holders were in their prime. But the transfer year is when evil tends to rise due to the new generation not being as hardened as the old one. 

A knock on my door stirs me out of my thoughts. “Come in,” I reply.

“I knew you would not be asleep,” Nina mused as she sat on the edge of my empty bed. I was sitting at my desk on the other side of my small room. Nina is a 170 year old Indian women who looked no older than 40. That was just one of the perks of being a holder of a miraculous. She wore a blue patterned sari that was draped in a fashion that allowed for her stomach to be visible. 

Tikki, the ladybug kwami, flew over to me from out of Nina’s long braid. Kwami’s are ancient creatures that lend their powers to their holders to make us stronger. “Marinette, how do you expect to be able to transform tomorrow without the proper amount of sleep?” Tikki asked me. That scared me the most. While training, I only get to learn what the miraculous can do, but I never got to learn what it was like to transform. That is part of the ceremony. Tikki rested on my knee and faced towards Nina, “You were the same, remember? You could barely stand for your first transformation, you were so tired.”

“I was excited, Tikki,” Nina giggled to herself. Tikki just signed in response. “But Tikki is correct, little bug,” she turned her attention to me. I pet Tikki’s head and moved over to my bed, and sat next to Nina. “You may be turning 21, but you will always be my little bug, remember that.” She leaned down and kissed my forehead.

“Good night, you two,” I sleepy said as they left the room. I slowly fell a sleep, fretting over the events of the next day. 

… 

Nina woke me up only six hours after I had finally fallen asleep. The first step to the ceremony was to have a breakfast with the previous holders. I had met with them all throughout my life, but I had never seen them all in one room. Holders tend to keep to their regions and only meet when necessary. This was one of those occasions.

“Worried?” Nina asked as she helped me with my hair. She was concerned that my normal pigtails weren’t regal enough for the status of the Ladybug. Her solution was a simple side braid. 

“Slightly,” I said quietly. “I’ve never met with any of my team, and I have no clue if I’m gonna get along with them.” I walked over to my mirror in the corner of my room. I was wearing a full length red dress. It had no sleeves, but had a traditional Chinese style to it. I had been the one to design it and I worked on it with the help of Nina for a couple of months before today.  For the majority of the ceremony I would only being wearing a mask and then my first transformation would be done in front of the old holders, my team, and the entire population of the temple. So in total there would be around 100 people watching me become Ladybug. 

“You may be the youngest, but never forget the Kwami wouldn’t have agreed with you being chosen had you not been the perfect fit with the others,” Nina said as she came over and placed her hands on my shoulders. “Ready?”

“No, but I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“Nope,” Nina said as she smiled sweetly. “You’re going to be amazing, Marinette. Don’t you ever forget that.”

Someone knocked on the door. I had an inkling of who it might be. “Come in, Master,” I called. 

A short man in traditional robes walked in. “Ladies, the holders of old are waiting in the dining hall for you.”

“Fu, tell them we will be there soon,” Nina informed him. “We still have the transfer to complete.”

“Of course,” and then he left.

Nina went back over to my desk and grabbed a small box. “You’ll need to put these on along with your mask.”

I opened the small black box to reveal a set of red earrings that had black dots on them. I giggled with joy. “That explains where Tikki was all this morning.” Nina just nodded. 

After both of us placed our black masks on, Nina put the miraculous earrings onto my ears. “As a holder of old, I place my position into the young’s waiting heart. May her aim hold true and her team trust in her decisions. I renounce my title of Ladybug,” Nina recited as she finished putting the earnings on my ears. 

“As a holder of new, it is my vow to protect not only my miraculous, but my kwami and team, as is my duty as the leader of the holders. I claim the title of Ladybug and will uphold the traditions of old.” A rush of magical energy flowed through my body as I recited the words I had been taught to memorize since I was young. This was one part of the ceremony that was done in private as is can be overwhelming for both the old and new holders. 

Nina looked proud. “Lets go, my little bug. Time to impress.” And with that we left my room. 


	2. Introductions and Transformations

The average ceremony for a new miraculous holder was the transfer vows and then the new holder would transform in front of their temple. However, since Ladybug was the leader, I had a special feast in my honor before my first transformation.

The dining hall had a long table that had the holders of old sat across from the holders of new. The room was normally bare with just the table in the middle, but today there were red banners hanging around the columns that lined the walls. It was only a simple decoration, but it made the room seem a little more grand. I took this chance to look over everyone in the room. All of the new holders were transformed, while their predecessors wore similar black masks to mine. Even though it was only Miraculous holders in the dining hall, the tradition was that only the current team of holders could know each other identities. Once a miraculous was passed on to the new generation, the old ones were considered outsiders. It was a sad fact, but it kept everyone safe. Or, so I’ve been told. I still don’t fully understand the whole secret identity rule. 

The new Black Cat walked over to my chair and pulled it out for me. The Black Cat’s are always the second in command of the team and also the oldest, so it seemed only right that he would be the first to introduce himself to me. “M’lady, I am Chat Noir, and I hope we get along nicely.” He bowed to offer me my seat. He had messy blonde hair and his suit was mostly black leather, with a few accents of metal on his tip of his tail and on the tops of his boots. He also had far too many belts. It looked a little constricting, if you ask me. From what I know about him from the news articles I’ve read is that he is two years older than me, but beyond that, I have no clue what he is like. 

“Thank you, Chat Noir,” I politely replied as I took my seat at the head of the table. Nina was sat at the other end. Her black cat also pulled her seat out for her. She smiled at him as she sat down.

“Chat being nice for once?” mumbled the new Butterfly holder. His mentor cleared her throat, and he sat up straight. “I apologize, Ladybug. I am Swallowtail, the butterfly holder.” He stood to bow. His costume was the most intricate one I had seen. The butterfly has the power of flight, so his wings were black on top which flowed into white then blue with a red tip at the very bottom. The rest of his suit was brown with light tan blocks covering his torso and legs. His black hair also had light blue tips. I knew that he was a similar age as Chat Noir, so I guess they know each other best.

“Introductions already?” The Fox stood up excitedly. “Alright, I’m Rena Rouge, the fox.” Her costume was a mixture of orange, yellow, and red. She had long ears sticking out of her head and a sash around her waist that fell behind her to make her tail. “Pleasure to meet you,” she bowed. 

The next of the team to speak up was the Bee holder. “You may be the leader, but I’m Queen Bee.” She didn’t stand and bow like the others. She just sat in her seat with her arms crossed. From what I could see from where she was, her costume looked the most like it’s representative animal (insect?), as it had black and yellow stripes. I glanced over to her mentor and she didn’t seem to care about her pupil’s disrespect. 

The rest of the introductions went without a hitch. Don’t get me wrong, this is what I’ve wanted for my whole life is to finally meet my team, but it's a bit overwhelming for me. ‘ _ Pleasure to meet you.’  _ Is that all they could say? It seemed like this was just an inconvenience for some of the team. Especially Queen Bee. 

Ipacki, the peacock holder stayed quiet throughout the entire breakfast. He seemed to be shy, which is slightly amusing since his costume was bright green, purple, and blue. He was the most colorful person in the room. The last of the team was Carapace, the turtle. He sat next to Chat Noir, and they seemed to be good friends. 

Nina stood and tapped her fork to the side of her glass. “I would like to thank everyone for coming to this miraculous ceremony. We accomplished great things as a team, and I am very proud to have been your leader all these years.” A small tear rolled down her mask. “Now it’s time for what we all gathered here for,” she raised her arm, reaching out towards me, “Go to the main hall, little bug. We will all be there soon.”

“Thank you everyone,” I said quietly as I walked out of the room. The last part of the ceremony was the worst and the best. I had to transform without the help of Tikki. This is to prove that I have the power to force a transformation if it is ever needed. With the transfer vows, Tikki is trapped in the miraculous until after I de-transform. So, technically I had her help in some ways, I guess. Master Fu once told me that there was a Ladybug a long time ago that couldn’t transform at her ceremony so they had to train a whole new team. Everything depends on me. It’s a lot for one girl to handle. 

My breath was taken away as I walked into the main hall. The temple was already magical looking on a normal day, but the guardians had put a platform in the middle of the room with hundreds on little ladybugs flying all over the room. I held out my hand for the little bugs to land on, but they just flew straight through. They were some sort of projection magic! I didn’t know anyone in the temple had that power. 

Master Fu was standing on the raised platform. He waved me over to him. “Meditation will help prepare you. Just focus on the miraculous and not on everyone coming into the room.” I looked down at him and nodded. 

There was a small bamboo mat in the center of the platform. I sat cross legged and tried to focus. I closed my eyes and tried to tune out the sound of footsteps filling the room all around me. Deep breaths. I can do this. I need to do this. 

_ ‘Focus,’  _ a small voice said in the back of my mind. A warm feeling began to course over my body. I steadied my breathing to sync with the pulsing feeling of the heat as it flowed. Like a wave crashing onto a beach, I felt a release of energy as I transformed for the first time. 

I opened my eyes and saw the entire room had looks of shock and awe. I looked over my body and saw a simple red suit with black dots all over. Definitely not a traditional outfit, but still worthy of Ladybug.  

Everyone in the room watched me as I stood from the mat. Nina was the first to clap, and then the room erupted in a loud roar of applause and hollers of congratulations. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know this chapter is a lot, but I just needed to get the majority of introductions out of the way. Promise the next chapter won't be so jam packed. ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think of this story so far!


End file.
